The UK and Scottish Governments’ failure to properly understand Scotland’s creative industries jeopardises their potential success, according to a major new report to be published in Dundee today.
The Scottish Affairs Committee visited Dundee in October to gather evidence on the country’s creative industries, which include television, music and video game development.
It will return to Dundee where it was told the sector’s potential could make North Sea Oil look “like a drop in the ocean” to launch its official report.
The committee discovered neither the UK nor the Scottish governments know exactly how much support is given to the creative industries.
chairman Pete Wishart said: “I have been hugely impressed by the talent and ambition of creative professionals in Scotland, and pleased to see the successes they have already had.
“However, I am concerned that the sector is poorly understood by government and as a result is not able to thrive as it should.”
Chris van der Kuyl, chairman of Dundee-based games company 4J Studios, told MPs the games sector has the potential to dwarf the North Sea oil industry.
But he warned MPs support must be better targeted.
For more on this story, see Monday’s Courier.